Edginess

While driving home from work through the Edge neighborhood, it was hard to miss the spaceship/pickup truck with the three large plastic green aliens in the back, complete with large weapon on top of the cab. I asked those two gentlemen, because I had to, what it was and they wisely replied, "We don't know. We just picked it up and we have to take it to its destination." The mind reels with possibilities. Good luck guys and remember not to ask too many questions.

Trolley Tour Rundown; Marker A3 and Italian Immigrant A.S. Barbaro; Mayor is Gone

Click here to see what's happening at tonight's South Main Trolley Tour. I'm especially interested in the Jack Robinson Gallery's featured exhibit and the featured artists at Hannah Davis Gallery.

Today's alley marker, A-3:




Our Mayor has officially resigned. See the MBJ article. The weeks of speculation up to this official point reminded me of the Wizard of Oz scene after the house fell on the witch and all the officials had to pronounce that she was in fact legally dead. I've taken some liberties to suit our situation here:

I welcome you most regally. But we've got to verify it legally, to see if he, is morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably and reliably gone.
I must aver, I thoroughly examined him. And he's not only merely gone, he's really most sincerely gone.

Looking Forward to More Fun in the Alleys...

Click on the graphic above to enlarge and check out the line up for the Center City Commission's alley parties this Fall.

1883 Fire on Alley Marker A-2

A New York Times article, published in October 1883, reported that this fire started at Cole & Co’s paint store which was on Monroe between Main and Second. While the fire was busily destroying Cole’s a breeze carried the flames to adjoining buildings. The article cites that the Greenlaw Opera House was on Second Street and its wooden frame succumbed entirely to the fire as did the Mozart Music Hall that was on the corner of Second and Monroe. Curiously, this marker is located behind Parking Can Be Fun parking garage in Barbaro Alley which is two blocks south of Second and Monroe. Now either the NYT didn’t get their facts straight or someone down here decided that marker should go in that spot anyway.

Midnight Matinee; Fire; Concert; Alley Markers

There are no Orpheum movies this week but you can make the last Indie Memphis Midnight Matinee at Power House, 45 East G.E.Patterson, this Friday. The movie is "Tsotsi". Synopsis: "Tsotsi is the street name of a young Johannesburg delinquent who has taken to a life of crime in order to support himself. One evening, Tsotsi shoots a woman while stealing her car, and only later discovers that her infant son is in the back seat. As Tsotsi finally looks back at his own childhood, he tries to take care of the infant on his own." Free for Indie Memphis members, $5 for non members.

I mentioned earlier in the week that the South Main trolley tour is also this Friday. I keep missing the fire twirling/fire dancing/fire dervish/fire whatever girl and I hope I get to see her this week.

Pat Benatar and Blondie will be in concert this Saturday night at Mud Island Amphitheater, proving it's not over 'til it's over.

Continuing on with the CCC marker tour, today starts some exciting jaunts through the alleys of downtown. Some alleys are nice, like today's section of Center Lane, but others are not for the faint of heart, I can tell you. Alley marker #1:

Markers 49 and 50; Corkscrew

Markers 49 and 50 are pictured below. Starting tomorrow I will post the final series of "sidewalk" markers which are all posted in alleys, hence their numbering system starts with "A"-1.




Tuesday is Ladies Day at the Corkscrew - 10% off all wine.

Markers 45 - 48; Trolley Tour; Best Album Cover

Again there is a gap in the sidewalk markers as 45 - 47 are not yet in place. These will be placed on the north side of Court Square eventually. That makes marker #48 at the northeast corner of Court Square our marker of the day:

It is hard now to think of Court Square as being "pretty far out of town".

I am looking forward to the South Main Trolley Night this Friday 6 pm - 9 pm. Though scattered thunderstorms are predicted throughout the week, highs are staying in the mid-80s so it may end up being a nice night.

Each month on the Rock n Soul Museum's website they ask for you to submit an opinion on a topic for a chance to win some prizes. July's question is what is best album cover of all time and why. The Beatles "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and KISS, "Rock and Roll Over" are two getting some votes. The qualifier "of all time" makes this harder than you think. There are too many for me to narrow down to one. Some I would say make the cut because they have become indelible images like The Beatles "Abbey Road" or the Doors "Best of the Doors". Some would be just because of the art or striking photography like The Roots "Things Fall Apart".

Frittata and Peaches; Marker #44 and the Four Squares

I was planning on trying Bardog's brunch today but when I opened my door to leave there was yet another gift from my neighbors! This time it was a basket full of squash, cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes, bell pepper and rosemary. Within 30 minutes the squash, zucchini, bell pepper and tomato became my brunch frittata. I also had some peaches someone else had given me earlier in the week which became a super-sweet dessert. I'll get around to Bardog next Sunday.

The peaches with toasted almonds (plain, whole almonds toasted in the oven for about 8 minutes on 400), rosemary, balsamic vinegar and honey all tossed together and warmed up for a few minutes in a saucepan. I ate them just like this but it would be great over vanilla ice cream, pound cake or biscotti.

Today's marker:

The four squares were Court Square, Exchange Square, Auction Square and Market Square. In addition to the fact that there was no court in Court Square, there was no market in Market Square, no exchange in Exchange Square and no auction in Auction Square.

Now Where Will We Go To Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez?

Last night as I was walking by Orleans on Front I was surprised to see it has closed. The nice guy who handles the lot next door confirmed it for me. Sad to see the "for rent" signs in the window and stuff stacked up inside the front door. I had just told a friend last week to go by there for lunch sometime because they had such good food. Too bad.

Marker # 43 John Gaston Rags to Riches Story

Marker #43 is on north side of Court just east of Main Street:

A little history about Jean (John) Gaston: He was born in 1828 in France; Aveyron or Bordeaux are two places that have been cited as his exact birthplace. At the age of six (they didn't mess about in those days!) he started working in his grandfather's cafe in Paris. He ended up getting work on a steamliner making several trips back and forth from France to New York across the Atlantic. He stayed in New York for a time working as a chef at Delmonico's and eventually and for whatever reason, he decided to move to Memphis where he opened a restaurant and later a hotel and became quite the success story.

The John Gaston Hospital history from the Med's website :

1929
Mrs. Theresa Gaston Mann, who would be the hospital’s most significant benefactor to date, passed away, leaving more than $300,000 to the Memphis City Hospital in addition to the Gaston home and furnishings. Her contribution was made in memory of her former husband, John Gaston.

1936
With the Gaston inheritance, $300,000 from the city, $100,000 from the county, and a grant from the Public Works Administration, the Memphis City Hospital generated $800,000. These funds were used to build the new John Gaston Hospital which was dedicated in June of 1936.

1983
The hospital was officially renamed the Regional Medical Center at Memphis, or THE MED.

And in 1990 the old Gaston Hospital was demolished as the Med grew and expanded.

The Gaston mansion was on South Third and that property was converted around 1929 into Gaston Park which is still there today along with the Gaston Park Library and the Gaston Community Center.

New Services Downtown; Indie Memphis Film Festival; Garden Update; Marker #42 and Elevator Rides

Admittedly, this post is all over the place, so hang on:
There are a couple of new businesses on Main Street. Click Photography Studio opened in part of the old Gestures space and Peacock McCarty Travel opened on Main between Union and Gayoso.



Great job Indie Memphis! Movie Maker Magazine named the Indie Memphis Film Festival as one of the world's "25 Coolest Film Festivals." The Indie Memphis Film Festival is scheduled for October 8th - 15th.

Urban garden update:
Last month, the garden in the strip along Huling looked like this:


One month later its thriving and it now looks like this:

The marker today is Marker #42:

Have a great weekend

Memphis Gas Station Sushi in Gourmet Magazine (really); Anthropologie (finally); Rooftop Parties; Markers 24 - 41

In the travel section of the August issue of Gourmet Magazine (page 44) in between articles about the raw mik cheeses from Ragusa Province in Sicily and the food artisans of Vancouver Island, there is a small piece about the sushi at the BP gas station at Ridgeway and Poplar. Apparently, they sell about 300 boxes of fresh sushi each day made by an on-site sushi chef. I knew this gas station had been selling sushi for years but I've never had any or even thought about stopping in to get any. I need to get out there I guess and for another exciting reason: Anthropologie is opening a store in Saddle Creek according to the Memphis Business Journal.

Ok, back downtown, the Peabody will have its last Thursday night rooftop party of the season tonight with bands Cowboy Mouth and the Dempseys. The Madison Hotel Thursday night rooftop parties go on through September and tonight the band is the Billy Gibson Band.

Our marker tour has a few gaps. Apparently, the Center City Commission has not installed all of the markers due to the fact that all of the sidewalk improvements have not been completed. Therefore, markers 24 - 41 are not in place. Before getting to marker 42, I am posting some photos of the Sterick Building (future marker # 35) and the Winchester Building (future marker #36) and what their markers will say about them:

Sterick Building future marker #35: "At 29 stories, the Sterick Building was the tallest building in the South when completed in 1930. Gothic spires on the 13th and 29th floors had to be removed in 1949 because they attracted lightning."

The backside of the Sterick Building with the C&I Building in the foreground. Both buildings stand unoccupied though the Visible School has a contract to purchase the C&I Building.

Future marker #36, the Winchester Building: "The "N" and "H" on the north side of the Winchester Building stand for Napolean Hill, "the merchant prince of Memphis". His house stood across the street and he enjoyed admiring his own intials carved into his own building."

The Mary Elizabeth; Hot Dogs on Twitter; Mojitos at Rumba Room; Casablanca and Itta Bena; Marker #23

In the Butcher Shop on Front Street the painting above has been hanging on the wall for many years. This is a painting of two tugboats, one named the G.H. Tamble and the other is the Mary Elizabeth; if you double click the picture you can see the names painted on the boats. The Mary Elizabeth is also known as Proud Mary according to a local historian who recently pointed this painting out to me. This would be the same Proud Mary made famous by the song "Proud Mary" written by John Fogerty and recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival. I always thought that the song was about a riverboat as the lyrics, "big wheel keep on turnin" and "til I hitched a ride on a riverboat queen" would seem to infer. But according to the historian "wheel" refers to the tugboat propeller and not the paddle wheel of a riverboat. The Wikipedia entry for Proud Mary states that the song was written aboard a steamboat named the Mary Elizabeth but there is a "citation needed" link there waiting for verification. Hmm, at any rate I like that painting.

Hound Dogs hot dog cart is Twittering. Follow him at http://twitter.com/mainsthounddogs to find out when he's set up, if he's got any specials and what he's got going on in general. He may start setting up on Saturdays.

The Rumba Room is having Mojito Madness tonight - 1/2 off mojitos from 6pm - 8pm and $5 appetizers all night.

The Orpheum is showing "The Way We Were" this Thursday night and "Casablanca" this Friday night. Take your movie ticket to Itta Bena or B.B. King's afterward for $3 selected martinis and 1/2 off an appetizer.

The marker of the day marks the spot of one of the oldest downtown restaurants, Bon Ton Cafe:

South of Beale Gastropub to Open Soon; Marker #22 and Greek Temples

South of Beale, the new gastropub poised to open at 361 S. Main, is certainly making itself known online with a website, Facebook page and Twitter. The concept of a gastropub, various definitions are presented on a bar at the top of their website, is basically a casual pub with a heavy emphasis on high quality food. They do not yet have their food and drink menus posted though they do have a few cocktails listed at the bottom of their website's home page. The former vacant overgrown and littered lot next door is being paved and turned into a parking lot. It appears SOB (that's the way their signage reads, so it's hard to ignore) will be open in August.

The downtown sidewalk marker tour continues with Marker #22:



Weekly reminder: Tuesday is Ladies Day at the Corkscrew - 10% off all wine

Blues on the Bluff; Marker #21 - William Len

WEVL's annual Blues of the Bluff event is this Saturday, July 25th, 6 - 11 pm, at the National Ornamental Metal Museum Grounds 374 Metal Museum Drive.

Today's Marker is #21 :

William Len Hotel was converted in the 1980's to William Len Apartments. The building was again renovated in 2004 and is now a Residence Inn.

Photo of the rear of the building from the alley

Window details